Taylor Bell: November 2010 Archives

Thoughts of someone who has been observing the state football playoff since it kicked off in 1974 and watched the 2010 finals from an easy chair in his comfortable den on Friday, then spent Saturday taking notes while signing books in the Great West Hall of Memorial Stadium in Champaign:

* Wheaton Warrenville South is as good as advertised but not as good as coach Ron Muhitch had projected prior to Saturday's 28-17 victory over Lake Zurich in the Class 7A final. The 2010 Tigers aren't as good as John Thorne's high-scoring 1998 WW South powerhouse that was led by quarterback Jon Beutjer (national-record 60 TD passes), wide receivers Jon Schweighardt and Eric McGoey and running back Corrice Burns. The Tigers averaged 44 points per game and crushed Barrington 42-14 in the state final.

From the time he was in third grade, playing football for the Park Ridge Falcons, Matt Alviti was being groomed to follow in the long and distinguished tradition of Maine South quarterbacks, in the footsteps of Tom Fiddler, John Schacke, Shawn Kain, Tony Wnek, Sean Price, Tyler Knight, Charlie Goro and Tyler Benz.

Alviti participated in the youth program for eight years. He always attended home games at Maine South. When Alviti was an eighth grader, his brother was a senior receiver on Goro's state championship team. Before his sophomore year, he knew he would be a candidate for the starting position.

"He could be the best quarterback we have ever had," said longtime offensive coordinator Charlie Bliss. "He is ahead of where Price and Goro were as sophomores. He is a quarterback who love to get better. He doesn't play like a normal sophomore quarterback."

(Editor's note: This is another in a series of stories that were included in the original manuscript of my fourth book, "Dusty, Deek, and Mr. Do-Right: High School Football In Illinois," published by University of Illinois Press. Due to page limitations, some stories had to be deleted. From time to time, I will include them in my blog).

St. Laurence/St. Rita isn't the oldest rivalry in the history of high school football in Illinois. Hyde Park/Englewood started in 1889, East Aurora/West Aurora in 1893, Ottawa/Streator in 1895 and Arcola/Tuscola in 1896.

It might not even be the most competitive rivalry. Evanston/New Trier dates to 1913 and Mount Carmel (St. Cyril) vs. St. Rita began in 1908. From 1914 to 1974, East St. Louis and Belleville played for the Victory Bell on Thanksgiving Day. Since 1935, Hinsdale (Central) and Downers Grove (North) have played for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Van Coleman of Hoopmasters.com, who along with Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports has spent more than 30 years evaluating high school basketball players from coast to coast, is one of two recruiting analysts who has rated 6-10 Anthony Davis of Chicago Perspectives as the No. 1 prospect in the nation.

Scout recently moved Davis to its No. 1 spot. Gibbons, Rivals and ESPN also are impressed with Davis' rapid rise to stardom but are less enthusiastic, choosing to rate him no higher than No. 2 and no lower than No. 6. Not bad under any circumstances for a youngster who had no reputation at all as recently as last April.

But Coleman has observed Davis on more than a few occasions and insists that he deserves the elite standing--and, based on his huge upside, could be even better.

For many reasons, this shapes up as one of the most exciting and competitive high school basketball seasons that Illinois has experienced in recent memory.

1. Simeon and Whitney Young could emerge as two of the best teams ever produced in Illinois. They have what it takes to rank in a class with the best of all time...Thornridge 1972, Quincy 1981, Marshall 1958, Collinsville 1961, Evanston 1968, Simeon 2007, Peoria Manual 1997, Lyons 1953, Taylorville 1945, Mount Vernon 1950, King 1986 and Whitney Young 1998.

2. Nine Illinois products rank among the top 100 players in the nation in the class of 2011--Kentucky-bound Anthony Davis of Chicago Perspectives (1), Louisville-bound Wayne Blackshear of Morgan Park (18), Ohio State-bound Sam Thompson of Whitney Young (45), Illinois-bound Mike Shaw of De La Salle (53), Illinois-bound Tracy Abrams of Mount Carmel (55), Illinois-bound Mychael Henry of Orr (62), Stanford-bound Chasson Randle of Rock Island (76), Connecticut-bound Ryan Boatright of East Aurora (83) and Illinois-bound Nnanna Egwu of St. Ignatius (100). The class compares to 1979 and 1998 as the best ever produced in Illinois.

So what can Sandwich do for an encore?

In winning two games in the state playoff and advancing to the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history, Sandwich (10-1) is treading in unfamiliar territory. The Indians will play at Mendota on Saturday in a Class 4A matchup.

"One day our kids will look back and realize they made a lot of history in this little town," said coach Derek Avery, a former three-sport athlete at Sandwich who never experienced this kind of success when he was growing up. The team went nine seasons in a row and 15 of 16 years without fielding a winner.

"When we made our first playoff appearance in 1985, I was in junior high school. We were 3-6 in most years and I remember an 0-9 season. We had some rough years. We made the playoff in 2002 and 2008 but we never won a playoff game, not until this year. We've gone from rock bottom to sky high."

If you are a basketball fan, I urge you to read George Dohrmann's new and highly acclaimed book, "Play Their Hearts Out," a captivating and compelling look into what is described as "the wildly dysfunctional, incredibly lucrative youth basketball machine" and "the Friday Night Lights of grassroots basketball."

You'll thank me in the morning.

Dohrmann, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and the magazine's investigative reporter, spent more than eight years gathering information on youth basketball in southern California, the coaches, the players, their parents and their involvement with shoe companies. If you had a hint about what is going on, this book will broaden your education.

Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch believes his current squad, which is 10-0 and rated No. 1 in the Chicago area going into Saturday night's game against crosstown rival Wheaton North in the second round of the Class 7A playoff, is better than last year's state championship squad.

In fact, Muhitch believes his 2010 powerhouse, which is averaging 43.7 points per game and has allowed only 73 points, is even better than WW South's celebrated 1998 state championship team that has been ranked with the best teams in state history, including St. Rita 1971, Evanston 1971, Joliet Catholic 1975, East St. Louis 1985 and Fenwick 1962.

"At the beginning of this season, I felt we had the potential to be as good as 1998, because of (quarterback) Reilly O'Toole," Muhitch said. "We had a good defense in 1998. This year's defense is similar, a lot of unheralded kids playing great defense who nobody knows about."